How to Care for a Skin Scrape: 5 Steps for Faster Healing
Scrapes can happen anywhere on the body. Learn skin scrape care in five steps: rinse, wash with soap, apply antibiotic, cover with gauze and avoid the sun.
Skin is one of the body parts most prone to scratches. One injury many people get often is a scrape. This kind of wound can easily happen anywhere: on the elbows, knees, arms and even the head. So how do you care for a scraped skin wound? Read on for the full rundown.
How to Care for a Scraped Wound
- Clean the Wound First
The first thing you should do when you get a scrape is clean it. Here, you can rinse it with clean running water. Besides water, you can also use a saltwater solution or sterile saline until the wound is clean.
- Use Soap to Clean the Wound
After rinsing with clean running water, you can wash the wound with a mild soap such as baby soap. Soap leaves the wound cleaner. This matters even more if you fell in a dirty place, since bacteria can get into the wound.
When caring for a scraped skin wound, avoid cleaning it with substances such as alcohol, iodine and hydrogen peroxide. Using them makes the wound sting and can cause irritation.
Read Also: Why Wounds Take a Long Time to Heal
- Apply an Antibiotic
One way to help a wound heal faster is to apply an antibiotic to it. This turns out to keep the wound moist. That in turn speeds up the healing process and helps prevent infection.
- Cover the Wound With Sterile Gauze
After you apply the antibiotic, the next step in caring for a scraped wound is to cover it with sterile gauze. This keeps dust that could cause infection away from the wound. You also need to change the gauze regularly every day.
- Keep the Wound Out of the Sun
To help a scrape heal faster, it is best to avoid sunlight. Exposure to the sun can leave the skin with permanent hyperpigmentation. So if you plan to be out in the hot sun for a long time, it is a good idea to wear long clothing.
Those are some ways you can care for a scrape wound. Proper care helps the wound heal quickly. So follow these steps to make the injury go away sooner. Beyond that, you also need to treat it regularly and not just leave it alone.
Read Also: How to Care for a Minor Burn
